Sung Ji-hyun

Sung Ji Hyun has been the top women’s badminton player in South Korea for over 14 years. The Asian Championship gold medallist competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Asian Games, and has won numerous international medals and trophies throughout her glittering playing career. Unlike many badminton players from South Korea, the skilled shuttler has focused on singles and rose to No. 2 in the world rankings in 2017. Sung was part of the winning South Korean teams that clinched the 2017 Surdiman Cup, the 2010 Uber Cup and the team event at both the 2013 and 2015 Summer Universiade.

Born in Seoul, Sung is the daughter of former national head coach Sung Han Kook and two-time All-England champion Kim Yun Ja. The South Korean shuttler followed her parent’s path into badminton at a young age and won two silver World Junior Championships medals in 2007 and 2009. The badminton ace won her first major title in 2011 when she claimed the Korea Grand Prix and soared into the Top 10 of the World Rankings. Two years later she won the Korea Open – her first Super Series Premier title – at her hometown. Other highlights of her remarkable career include becoming the first South Korean in a decade to win the Badminton Asia Championships when she defeated No 1 seed Wang Shixian 21–19, 21–15 in 2014, and helping the South Korean national team win the world team championships at the Sudirman Cup in 2017. Sung is married to former No 1 men’s player and compatriot Son Wan-ho.